The Daily bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Hawaii]) 1882-1895, 1887-07-28
OUR PARIS LETTER.
PARIS. June Is, 1887.

| have been looking into the abs
tracts and brief chronicles of the
French press, at the time of Queen
Victoria's accession, and have Gull
ed a few interesting notes. The
kings death had been since some
time discounted, just as is at pre-
sent, the demise of the Emperor of
Germany. William ~ expired on
the 20 June, 1887, at few minutes
after 2 O'Clock in the morning, at
Windsor Castle. AT half past nine,
seven hours later, the French Am
bassador was officially informed of
the event. He sent special mes
sage at once to his Government,
which was received at Calais at 2 in
the morning of the 21st., and the
news sent by signals, hoisted up at
the Bourse in Paris, ten hours later
or at noon, when it was received as
a canard, to induce a fall in the
Spanish funds. Thus it took about
40 hours to transmit the intelligence
of the Kings death, from Windsor
to Paris. However it was only ON
the 25 June, 1887, that Wheatsone
and Cook laid down the first electric
telegraph wires as the outcome of
their patent ON the North Western
railway, between Euston Square and
Camden Town, so that two monarchs
Victoria and Telegraph-may be
regarded as ascending, almost day
for day, their respective thrones.
The French press seemed to view
English opinion as ranged either on
the side of the "Tories," or the
Radicals. The classification of
Conservative and Liberal, was un-
known; the term "Wig" was once
OR twice timidly named. The first
question treated was, how did it
arise, that the heiress apparent and
her mother, though living at Ken
sington Palace, never went to Wind
sor to bid the dying monarch adieu?
The King allowed the Princess Vic
toria, it was alleged, $1,000 year
out Of his own income, he declining
to ask parliament for grant for the
young princess, as the nation was
already overtaxed. The princess
was very poor; her father, the Duke
of Kent, who died seven months
after her birth, had nothing to leave
her-not even debts, as he expend-
ed all his resources in philanthropic
works, especially in promoting the
education of the poor. 1t was re-
torted that the Kings illegitimate
family-the Fitzclarence influence,
kept the princess and her mother at
bay, according to the "Chronique
de Paris" then edited by Balzac,
the novelist. At the coronation of
William w, that influence treated
the Duchess of Kent and her daugh-
ter, with marked discourtesy, by not
allotting them reserved seats, and
Mrs. Jordan, the Pompadour-Du
Barry of the reign-on one occasion
declined to rise, when the Duchess
was passing through salon.
The "Presse" said, the old King
took hatred against the Duchess
of Kent, because she gave ball a
few evenings after the death of his
dearly beloved natural daughter,
Lady Delisle. Much as the King
liked his actrice-mistress, Mrs. Jor-
dan, the same authority adds, he
left her to die, in next to poverty,
at Boulogne, near Paris; her illegiti-
mate son, Earl Munster, never fall
ed to call on her when passing
through the capital. Two days be-
fore the Kings death, the 18th
June, the anniversary of the battle
of Waterloo, the Duke of Yelling
ton, in full blaze uniform, prepared
to set out for Windsor, to present,
according to custom, a flag to his
majesty; the Earl Munster solicited
TO be allowed to do so on the pre-
sent occasion; granted; the royal
moribund did not know at first what
it all meant; then he placed his
feeble hand on the flag and mutter-
ed: "Ah! that was glorious day
for England!"
The King is dead-long live the
Queeni The "Siecle" relates who